The Things We Carried
by Kerrigas
Summary: Things were different once. We all carried something in this family. But we were too young when it happened – when Splinter was taken from us – and Leo changed. Something broke in him, and he couldn't put it back together. Raph-centric, three-part alternate storyline. The angst is strong with this one.
1. Chapter 1

**.:Author's Note:.** This three-part story is set in an alternative AU timeline. The regular canon storyline has been drastically altered due to events early in the story. Though the story is technically set in the 2k3 universe, with 2k3 characters, the story could be from any universe. Feel free to picture any generation of turtles here! The story has not been beta'd, so feel free to point out any mistakes.

 **Disclaimer:** The characters and rights of this story belong to Eastman and Laird and their respective copyright labels. This is purely a not-for-profit fan story.

 **Warnings:** Tragic events, PTSD, neglect/abuse, foul language (mostly Raph, sorry), and violence

The Things We Carried

Part One

…

Things were different once.

We were a family. A true family. Mikey, the little ball of energy, always smiling and joking. He carried our hearts. Donatello, the brains of the bunch, with more smarts than anyone in the city, turtle or not. He carried our minds. Me, well, I was ever the trouble-maker, hot-headed and impulsive. I probably carried the spirit of this family. And Leo. Leo was the sage one, always listening to master Splinter, always working twice as hard as everyone else, doing twice as many katas. He looked out for us all, ever wise and vigilant. It's no wonder Splinter chose him as leader. Hell, I would've, even if I whined about it at first. Everyone wants to be a leader, but not everyone is born for it. Leo was. He carried us all.

But we were too young when it happened. A huge quake hit the lair. The Foot had found us, and bombed the supports. Everything was coming down, and when we tried to escape, they were everywhere. We were outnumbered twenty-to-one, but we fought like demons. Eventually, it was too much. Mikey was knocked out, and Donny nearly lost an eye. Splinter ordered us to flee, find somewhere safe deeper into the sewers. We didn't listen, of course. Leo – that must've been the first time he disobeyed a direct order from Splinter – just fought twice as hard. He tried to convince Splinter to come with us. But they were too many. The elites showed up, and then Shredder. It wasn't even fair. Splinter slapped Leo hard, and ordered us to leave again. He stuffed us into a pipeline in the walls and disappeared into a sea of black. The last thing I remember seeing was the Shredder's metal gauntlet, thrust victoriously in the air, dripping with red.

Then Leo pulled Mikey onto his back and ordered me to help Donny, and we escaped through the tunnels.

We wandered for what felt like days. Not resting for fear that they would find us. Not eating, because we had nothing. Finally, we found a place – some kind of abandoned tram station caved in except in two areas, both of which we patched with grate. Leo tirelessly tended to us, our wounds, our needs. He left us only twice to go topside for food, foraging from grocery dumpsters for expired sandwiches and dented cans of soup. Then, when everyone was taken care of, he disappeared into one of the rooms and didn't come out for days.

We figured it was his way of mourning. Leo and his responsibility-complex. He always feels this imperative need to shoulder all the fault, all the burden. If he'd just opened up to us, maybe things would have been different. Maybe he wouldn't have been driven so far into… well, it doesn't matter now.

At first, we tried to reach out to him. He wouldn't join us for meals, so we left the cold sandwiches and watery soup by his door. Come the next day, the plates would be empty, so we knew he was eating, but there was nothing else. Mikey and Donny and I mourned together. Mikey was hit hardest. He'd been out of it when Splinter had gone down, so all he could do was try to convince us that Splinter needed us, that we needed to go back and save him. But after a few days, it began to sink in. Splinter wasn't coming back. We were on our own. Donatello was stricken, in his own way. He was silent and listless. He occupied himself by building things from the junk around the sewers and the station. He was the first who began trying to create a new home for us, even if it was just a couple moldy carpets and a half-functioning toilet, and blankets sewn from patches of fabric picked up here and there to soften the floor.

After several days like this, Leo finally came back.

Well, he never really came back. Not entirely. I think something in him broke with Splinter's death. But maybe he was already broken, and he just couldn't put himself back together this time.

Leo refused to involve Casey or April at first – they were being closely monitored by the Foot, so aside from a letter of reassurance that we'd made it out safe, we lost communication for several months. April wasn't too happy about that. She wasn't too happy about Leo, either. I think she knew something was wrong.

Leo and I went topside several times. Only the two of us – he never allowed Donny and Mikey to leave the station at first. We scavenged dumpsters and landfills. We even broke into a few grocery stores after Donatello had gotten sick from a bad sandwich. That should have been the first sign that something was wrong. Stealing was always too dishonorable for my older brother, no matter the reason. But we were in a low place, and we had little choice, and I definitely wasn't going to complain when we had real food for the first time in weeks.

Then, we began training again. Leo woke us up every morning, and every morning we did our katas and sparred. Leo was very critical. Every time we made even a single mistake, we would have to execute the kata at least a dozen times perfectly, or we would not be dismissed.

I guess that's when things really changed. Well, that's when I realized things would never be the same.

Leo would never be the same.

…

"Again, Mikey," Leo snapped. Michelangelo faltered in his high kick, glancing at me before returning to a defense position and repeating his set of blocks and high kicks.

"You're slowing down," Leo said. "And your kicks are too low."

Mikey repeated the kicks, and stumbled on the second. I could see the exhaustion plain on his face. Even though it had already been several weeks since the attack, no one slept very well, especially not Mikey. He stood there panting, and I could see his legs shake. Leo narrowed his eyes.

"Again, Mikey," he ordered. "Until you get it right."

Usually, I allowed Leo a bit of freedom in his instruction. I could see him struggling to take up Splinter's place, trying to find normalcy in routine. But Mikey was nearly in tears. He'd taken this too far.

"Hey, that's enough," I growled. Leo's eyes snapped up to meet mine. I shivered. That was something else that had changed since the attack. Leo's eyes had lost all their fire, all the passion and care that made him… Leo. All that was left was a cold, stark blueness that I couldn't read. It was unnerving, but I would never admit it.

"Finish your katas, Raph," Leo said, turning his attention back to Mikey. "I said _again_ , Michelangelo. What are you waiting for?"

I flinched. Only master Splinter routinely used our full names.

"He's exhausted," I snapped back. "Give him a break, will you?"

Leo's eyes flashed. "A break? Will the Foot give him a break? If they attack again, do you feel strong enough to defeat them this time? What about the Shredder? Do you think you could beat him if he attacked now?"

"What? No but –"

"Then shut your mouth and finish your katas." Leo's voice sounded entirely foreign then. Cold and void of any care and compassion.

"You're being unreasonable," I yelled. "The Foot can't find us here – they lost their leads when they destroyed our lair."

"They found us once, they can find us again," Leo said calmly.

"Get your head together, Leo," I snarled. "You can't expect us to be able to defeat them immediately."

"No, but I expect _Mikey_ to be able to do a simple double high-kick."

"Well maybe if you weren't driving us like goddamn _slaves_ , we'd have the energy to do it!"

"The Shredder won't wait for us to be in peak shape to attack, Raphael," Leo snapped. "You must be able to fight no matter how exhausted you are."

"Well that didn't exactly help master Splinter, did it?" I retorted. "When you're outnumbered, you're outnumbered, Leo. It doesn't matter how much goddamn training you do! It won't change anything!"

Leo's eyes flashed, but the anger behind them was anything but fiery. "It will change everything." He hissed. "Readiness, discipline, and strength. This will keep us alive, Raphael. It will keep us all alive."

"To hell with your discipline, Leo," I snarled. "Don't throw your guilt-trip on the rest of us. You aren't Splinter!"

I turned away then, storming toward the entrance. All my frustration and anger, the guilt I was already drowning under, and Leo's high-and-mighty act of so-called responsibility – all of it combined was suffocating.

"Raph." Leo called after me. I ignored him. "Raphael, you stop immediately or there _will_ be consequences."

"Stick your consequences down your fucking throat, fearless," I snapped. "I've had enough."

"Fine then," Leo said coolly. The chill to his voice stopped me dead in my tracks. "If you take one step out this station, Michelangelo does fifty flips. If you go topside, Donatello joins him."

I snarled, whirling around. Leo stood resolutely, eying me in challenge. Mikey bit his lip, pinching himself to keep from trembling, and Donatello glanced between Leo and I with trepidation and uncertainty.

"What'll it be, Raphael," Leo asked. I lunged.

Leo evaded me smoothly, and I rolled to my feet, whipping out my sai. I attacked, blinded by rage. Leo blocked and slipped each of my attacks with enraging ease and fluidity. He snapped his leg out and knocked the sai from my hands. Another kick to my plastron knocked the breath out of me, and a final kick to my legs swept me off my feet to land with a grunt on my back. Blinking away the stars and gasping for breath, I saw Leo standing over me, looking so far away I feared I could never touch him again.

"I know you don't care about discipline, Raph," he said. "But you care about your brothers. That's why the next time you decide to leave the lair without permission, Michelangelo will be doing katas until he collapses, you understand?"

I grit my teeth, rolling to my side and struggling to sit up. Leo kicked my shell, shoving me back onto my back.

"Do you understand?" he repeated.

Mikey was crying silently, Donatello planted firmly by his side and looking torn. I lowered my head and nodded.

"Say it."

I ground my teeth, but opened my mouth obligingly. "I understand."

Satisfied, Leo nodded his head. "Practice is done for today. We're all going on a foraging run tonight – all of us. Donatello I need a list of everything we need. Necessities only."

Donatello looked uneasy, but said nothing. I repressed the urge to punch Leo in the throat and stormed out of the cold, moist room that had become our new dojo.

…

The scavenge was successful and without incident. We stayed to the shadows, sifting through dumps and scrapheaps like aimless rats. It would have been demeaning, but it was all we had. Leo didn't speak except to give short orders. Look there, Look here. What's under that pile. Pay attention to your surroundings. Be quiet.

We recovered a number of the miscellaneous pieces of machinery Donatello had requested, and acquiesced a dingy white van from the junkyard missing a wheel and two windows. We dragged and pushed it into a non-assuming alleyway until Donny could work his magic and fix it up for use a few weeks later. Over time we gathered abandoned furniture, three-legged coffee tables and moldy couches, frayed carpets and even a refrigerator Donny managed to start up again. Most of the rest was rebuilt from scratch by our resident genius. The rest of us would help when we could, if we could. Well, most of us.

…

It took a while for things to return to normal. They never returned to normal, not really. But we rebuilt the lair. The station, hollow and haunting and as inhospitable as any other shithole in the sewers, had become home for us. We littered it with the worn furniture, all showing some form of Donatello's attentive handiwork. We got a television again, and Donny even stitched me up a new punching bag for my room. I needed it badly since I was no longer allowed to leave the lair. It was becoming harder and harder, though. Leo hadn't changed. Somewhere, I think all of us were hoping this was just his way of coping, and soon enough we'd have our big brother back. But weeks, months, a year went by and things were just the same. Wake up, do katas, meditate, patrol, come home, sleep. Repeat.

I think Leo realized it, because he gave me one day a week to go out on patrol on my own. But I had to go with Casey, and I had to be back by three, and I always had to have my shell cell on me. The way he offered it, it was like he was granting me some unfathomable gift. I would have thrown it back down his throat if I didn't need it so bad. It was my one time away from the lair, where I could get away from my brothers, get away from _Leo_ , and take out all my frustrations on the scum of New York City. It wasn't that I hated my brothers or anything, far from it. But Donny spent all his time in his lab, hammering up some new gadget and hardly speaking to any of us except during practice. Mikey lost a lot of his original cheeriness after Splinter's death, but after a few weeks he took it upon himself to be as obnoxious as possible, coming up with new pranks to deal with his boredom, whining about all the comics he couldn't get, cooking up disasters in the kitchen. But even though they acted normal, the tension within the lair never left. Thick and ripe and hot, clinging to our skin like a humid heat, it festered no matter how we acted. Leo locked himself in his room whenever we weren't training or patrolling, and half the time he wouldn't even eat with us, not that meals were much of a social opportunity anyway. And everyone else just went about, pretending everything was fine and dandy and ignoring the holes missing in our family and the steadily increasing discomfort of _being_ there. I became more snappish, growling at Mikey's antics and hissing at every one of Donatello's offers to fix something of mine, even though I knew all he wanted to do was fix everything, fix _this_.

So Leo granted me a day a week with Casey. It wasn't enough – not nearly enough, not when Leo's orders and distant attitude ground on my nerves every day – but it was something, and I could laugh at Mikey's jokes and consider Donny's suggestions again. I could be a brother again.

In fact, I became the older brother. Leo wasn't there anymore – he wasn't there for anyone. Not for Mikey or Donny, let alone me. When Mikey had a nightmare, or Donny had a breakdown, they came to me now. We even threw a king-sized mattress in the corner of my room even though I really didn't have the space for it, and covered it in quilts, and more often than not we'd all camp out and sleep there. We didn't talk much, except when someone needed to let out their fears or frustrations, but it was always in hushed voices, as if we feared being overheard. Though there was only one person who would overhear, and I was sure he didn't care what we were up to anyway, so long as we made it to practice on time.

So time went by this way. We grew up, more or less. We fought Purple Dragons and Foot, a variety of mutants and aliens and other assholes with domination complexes. We even defeated the Shredder, finally, through a series of brutal and gruesome battles. Leo lopped his head right off – Leo, our leader who always swore by non-lethal combat. Watching the blood seeping through the carpet did little to settle my unease that night, but Karai's anguished shriek and the scattering Foot and our various states of injury demanded a hasty retreat, and we did just that. We healed, and we got over it. Karai was still out there with the remaining Foot at her command, but we saw suspiciously little of them for a long while.

So time went on.

…

"Raph?"

I paused, steadying the heavybag with a hand, and glanced up. April was standing hesitantly at the edge of the lair, two large canvas bags full of groceries at her feet. When she met my eyes I nodded her over, grabbing a towel off the bench and wiping at a thin layer of sweat on my face and neck.

April smiled as she met me half-way, the gesture tired but genuine.

"I've brought this week's groceries," she said.

"Thanks again, Ape," I said, grabbing the bags and depositing them in the kitchen. I threw the frozen vegetables and instant lunches in the freezer and left the rest by the fridge. Leo would throw a fit, but Mikey would pull everything out anyway just to rearrange it all in his own fashion.

April was standing at the edge of the kitchen, glancing around, when I turned back to face her.

"It's quiet," she commented.

"Leo took Mikey out for a dumpster run, and Donny's where Donny always is," I said.

She exhaled a soft laugh and adjusted her stance, eyes straying.

"How is he?"

"Donny?"

"Leo."

I tensed, and shrugged. "Same as always," I muttered. "Things don't change a lot around here."

April frowned, shoulders sagging. "I still don't understand," she said softly. "I've tried talking to him, but he doesn't say much."

I snorted. "Yeah, that's nothing new. The day fearless opens up is the day I dye my shell pink."

April frowned, and I could tell she disapproved of my cutting remarks. "I'm just scared for him," she admitted. "This isn't healthy. He's a sixteen year old boy. He should be gentle and careless."

"Not a whole lot of room for carelessness now," I bit. "Not in our lives."

April flinched, and leaned against the wall. "I understand why it was necessary when the Shredder and the Foot were terrorizing New York and all, but that threat is gone now. Things have calmed down a lot. Leo should see that."

"I don't think Leo's seeing much of anything now," I said bitterly. "As far as he can tell, things are just as they've been the past three years."

"But doesn't that worry you?" she asked, her voice lowering and her eyes flitting over her shoulder, as if afraid of being overheard. "Knowing Leo, it's likely he's taken on the responsibility of trying to take over Spli- your father's role."

"Well he's done a bang-up job of that," I snarled, "except master Splinter wasn't a control-freak _or_ a tyrant. Whatever's come over Leo, it ain't a sense of fatherliness, I can tell you that."

April bit her lip, and leaned forward. "He doesn't… he isn't… abusive, is he?" she asked hesitantly.

I shrugged. "Depends what you mean by abusive. He hasn't hit anyone, if that's what you mean, besides our usual sparring sessions." Yet.

April sighed. "I just wish there was something I could do. You boys are like the younger brothers I never had. It hurts to see you all so… disconnected."

"We're fine," I assured her. "Aside from Leo, but if he doesn't want anything to do with the family, than that's his business. As far as I can tell, we're just a bunch of pawns to play around with. Frankly I don't even know why he bothers to stick around."

"Raphael!" April hissed, eyes wide.

I shot her a look, but before I could say anything, we were alerted by the sound of approaching footsteps and the crank of the Lair grate opening. Leo and Mikey stepped out, each hauling a backpack brimming with various bits of scrap. Mikey was gripping onto a cracked computer monitor and glowing more than I'd seen him do so in months. He lit up even more when he caught sight of April and I.

"April!" the youngest exclaimed, "did you bring groceries? Awesome! You got those chocolate mints I asked for, right? I can't make those mint-choco-walnut-cinnamon cookies without them! Look at this computer monitor I found! Isn't it cool? Donny's building me a new computer, with way more memory or whatever, so I can play games on it and stuff!"

April chuckled as the turtle droned on. "That's wonderful Mikey. Once your computer is set, you'll have to let me know. Your first PC game is on me."

Mikey's eyes grew wide and I nudged her gently. "Don't spoil him," I growled.

She grinned, but the gesture faltered slightly when she met Leonardo's eyes. My older brother nodded in greeting, polite as always.

"April," he said. "Thank you for bringing the food. Donatello should be able to reimburse you for this month by the end of the week."

"No problem," April said, forcing a smile.

"Can April stay a while?" Mikey asked Leo over his shoulder as he moseyed the monitor on the kitchen table and dropped the pack of scrap, which hit the ground with a sharp clang. "I need to show you this new game I got on the Nintendo," the turtle moaned. "It's awesome. You play as a ninja and you have all these powers like instant teleportation and walking on walls and stuff –"

"Ms. O'Neil can stay as long as her time permits, but training starts at seven tomorrow," Leo said curtly before turning on his heel and heading to his room without a word. April frowned, and I could tell she was mostly preoccupied by the informal address. While he usually used our full names, he still addressed Casey and April by their first names, though occasionally he would lapse back into formality. The gesture was particularly disconcerting to April, even though I paid it little mind. It was just Leo pushing us all away again. While April's remarks and concerns were valid, it didn't matter much to me anymore.

I'd stopped guessing why he did what he did a long time ago.

…


	2. Chapter 2

Part Two

…

Leo would often say that I couldn't see. It was stupid, because I could see just fine. I could see Donatello, hunched over a pile of scrap metal, a plate of cold scrambled eggs sitting untouched beside him. I could see Michelangelo, reading his comics and humming at a discordant pitch that meant he was nervous, voice hitching at the slightest sound. I could see Casey's frustration and April's worry each time they came over, which was becoming less and less frequent. But Leo would insist I wasn't seeing.

"You are blind to what you do not wish to see, Raphael," he said, ever cold and condescending. I caught him straight in the jaw seconds later, and the momentary shock on his features was almost worth the glaring headache after his retaliation. "That was messy," he criticized. I tightened my jaw. Leo had been grinding on my nerves lately, more so than usual. He had cut my topside trips down to twice a month, and insisted I lead patrols while he brooded in his room all night like a cripple. I couldn't stand the way my younger brothers looked at me like I was broken, and the way Leo looked at me like I was a constant disappointment. I lashed out at Mikey more than usual, his fake antics more irritating and depressing than anything else, and Donny had begun giving me the cold shoulder in return, building more obnoxious toys for Mikey.

Training was cut short.

"Patrol in two hours," Leo announced. "We will survey the docks for Foot ships, like the one seen two nights ago. The Foot have been too quiet about this. We must determine what they are transporting, and where. This will be a non-competitive reconnaissance mission," Leo's eyes rested on me for a heavy, meaningful second. "We will avoid engaging the enemy and revealing our position as a top priority."

Leo excused us, and we dispersed to our rooms to prepare ourselves. I was itching to leave the lair, and picked impatiently at my sai as I waited for my brothers to ready. At the time of departure, Leo led us silently from the sewers into the darkness above ground. We scaled a crumbing apartment complex and leapt from rooftop to rooftop, cool wind ghosting around us. Mikey whooped as he successfully summersaulted over a particularly large gap between buildings, only to quiet at a sharp look from Leonardo. A sudden flash of hot anger filled my chest, and I fell into stride beside Mikey.

"Race you to the docks," I challenged. Mikey frowned, glancing at Leo.

"I don't know," he muttered.

"We'll be quiet about it," I urged. "Leo can't say anything." Mikey paused for a second longer before grinning back, eyes sparkling with their old mischievousness.

"Last one to the dock has to clean the bathroom tonight!" he barked before ramping off a chimney and springing ahead.

"That's your chore!" I snapped, putting on a burst of speed. Muscles pumping, lungs burning, I darted over the New York City skyline, alive with the fire of adrenaline and a challenge. Mikey was still ahead of me by a few meters, but I was quickly gaining on him, and could see the outline of the bay another half-mile ahead. I saw Mikey glance back, grin, and leap over a fault. He never made it.

A dark shape sprang from the darkness and collided with my brother. Mikey tumbled through the air with a cry of surprise, disappearing into the gap between buildings.

"Mikey!" I shouted, quickly echoed by Donatello behind me. I darted to the edge of the building and glanced down, relief flooding over me as I caught sight of Mikey clinging to a fire-escape ladder. "You okay?"

"Peachy," Mikey replied, grunting as he hauled himself up. "Raph, look out!"

I barely had time to turn around when something collided with my plastron. I tumbled back onto the rooftop, managing to catch myself before falling, and whirled around with sais out. Five Foot ninja fell into place around me, weapons gleaming. I roared and charged, pummeling two to the ground with pure brute strength and disarming a third with a quick flick of my sai. As I knocked out the others, I heard Donatello join the fight, assaulted by another group.

"Cowabunga!" Mikey flew into battle with a cry, nunchucks catching a ninja in the head on his way down. He fell into step with Donny, pushing Foot warriors off the roof. Leonardo sped past, stopping only once to slice through and disarm a handful of ninjas in his way, before continuing toward the docks. I growled and beckoned my brothers to fall back with Leo. We got two roofs further before being cut off and swarmed again.

"Follow me." I started as Leo suddenly appeared beside me before blending back into the shadows and bounding up to a higher-elevation building. I followed suit with a curse, scrambling to keep up.

"Leo wait!" My brother paused on the edge of the roof, head twitching ever so slightly, the only indication of a calculating gaze hovering over the rooftop battlefield. I landed beside him, glancing down at my younger brothers, a whirlwind of green and shadows throwing off the swarming throngs of Foot.

"We've gotta help them!"

"They can handle a few Foot by themselves," Leo replied absentmindedly, eyes sweeping the darkness.

"A few? Damnit Leo are you trying to get them killed?"

"Have faith in your brothers, Raphael," Leo said, meeting my eyes for the first time. I felt a chill descend my back, whether it was from his use of "your" rather than "our" or the cold tone of his voice I was uncertain. But it only made me angrier.

"Faith ain't the same thing as condemning them to death," I snarled.

"It doesn't matter," Leo said, nonchalantly waving a hand and looking down again. "What is important is being able to asses all variables in a battle. Donatello would understand the need for this. He may not be as enthusiastic a fighter as you and Michelangelo, but he is a better tactician than perhaps even I, if a bit cautious." Leonardo gave me a sharp look. "Pay him heed." I tried to shake off the growing feeling of apprehension.

"What are you trying to tell me here, Leo? You know I hate it when you talk all dodgy."

"Look down and tell me what you see," Leo said instead. I exhaled sharply but turned my attention to the fight. While a large majority of the Foot had swarmed my brothers, many more had begun creating a large perimeter, each of them armed with long-range weapons. In one corner, emerging from the decrepit warehouse, I caught sign of a familiar hulking figure making a beeline for Mikey and Donny.

"Hun," I growled under my breath, fingers tightening around my sai. Leonardo pressed a firm hand against my plastron. "Look, Raphael," he stressed. " _See_. Try using that head of yours before drowning it in hot blood." I nearly snarled at him but instead something caught my eye. Hun was lugging something large under his arm, something which looked suspiciously like...

"A trap," I hissed. Leo nodded.

"Good. One which is unlikely to be sprung as long as we are still at large."

"So you expect me to just wait here while they capture my - our - brothers?"

"Don't be stupid," Leonardo snapped. "Throwing yourself head-first is exactly what they want. You must wait for the opportune moment and strike then."

"Screw your opportune moment, Leo," I snarled. "I'm not letting them get killed just because you decided to wait!" Without waiting for anything beyond a distinct narrowing of Leo's eyes, I jumped off the rooftop, scaling down windowsills and gutters swift and silent, clinging to the shadows until I emerged to deliver a perfectly executed mid-air back kick to hun's head. Take that for opportune moment, Leo.

Hun tumbled to the ground with a heavy grunt, the netgun in his hands clattering several feet away. I twirled the sai in my hands and approached him, blood boiling in anticipation. "Not tonight, Hun," I declared. The man snarled and picked himself up, spitting out a wad of blood. He yelled and launched himself at me, ever the predictable brute. I flipped off a nearby ledge over him and, spinning, landed to his left in time to present a high kick and several body blows, dodging under a wild hook that seemed a bit slow even for him and adding a few extra shots to his liver rewarded by a grunt and half-hearted uppercut. I continued weaving under his blows, retaliating with my own, grinning, even laughing, as his hits began to soften and his face contorted into one of pain every time he moved, until, suddenly and with unanticipated speed, his left hand neatly caught me in the plastron. I flew back, entirely unprepared for the sudden blow, and crashed into the ground. The impact jarred the wind from me, and I gasped for air, though my shell had thankfully absorbed most of the impact. I heard someone yell my name, and seconds later a familiar green shadow was leaning over me with concern.

"You alright?" Donny asked, pulling me upright. I nodded, trying to slow my breathing, and glanced up. My eyes widened the second Hun, face a bloody mess, pointed the gun at us. I cried out in alarm, but before I could so much as move, the gun exploded, jerking even Hun's beefy arms back, and Donny and I were sent flying with another fierce impact. I landed face first on the cement and groaned, my sai clattering out of reach. The pain quickly became the least of my worries, however, when I realized I was paralyzed, arms locked at my sides. I could feel Donatello's shell digging into the side of my plastron and I heard him whimper. The gun blast again, followed by a cry and a dull thud.

"Mikey!" I screamed. I struggled to twist around off my plastron and craned my neck for any sign of my brother beyond the sea of slowly approaching Foot.

"'M alright!" I heard Mikey groan somewhere nearby. "Can't... Move."

I could hear the panic in his voice and licked my lips. "It's alright, Mikey. We'll get out of this." I wiggled my hands and managed to tug the other sai from my belt. I hooked it into the net ropes and tugged, but the ropes held firm. If anything, it seemed they tightened instead. A deep rumble of laughter cut the air, and I twisted my neck as far back as I could to grace Hun with as venomous a look as I could manage.

"You thought you could escape again?" Hun sneered, drying blood smeared around his nose and mouth. "Not tonight, turtle." With that he kicked me roughly. I grunted, snapped my beak, and glared up at him. The sound of grating metal on concrete made me pause in dread.

"Hello, Raphael," a cool voice greeted.

"Karai," I snarled, eyes falling on her menacing silhouette, the city lights enveloping her armor in a soft sheen.

"As bullheaded as usual I see," Karai noted with a twitch of her lips. "It makes you painfully predictable." She glanced around, eyes narrowing. "Though once again, it seems your brother has evaded capture." She spat out this last phrase with barely-disguised venom, eyes narrowing. Her gaze suddenly turned hard and her mouth curved into a cruel smile. "If I could guarantee you would live past the evening I would recommend you learn a thing or two from him."

I fixed her with an ugly glare. She made a gesture and a half dozen Foot swarmed over and wrestled Donny and I to our feet. I caught sight of Mikey being manhandled in our direction and breathed a short sigh of relief to see him relatively unharmed, if slightly dazed.

"Where is Leonardo?" Karai asked in a steely voice.

"No clue," I replied shortly. She narrowed her eyes and fiddled with her left gauntlet. Seconds later Michelangelo screamed.

"Mikey!" Donny and I yelled. I could see our youngest brother writhing in the Foot solders' grip as if jerked by an unseen hand before collapsing forward, supported only by the two ninja.

"What did you do to him!" I snarled over Donny's anxious cries.

"Stockman really outdid himself with these new nets," Karai said. "Nearly impossible to cut through and delivers remote-activated electric shocks. I'm quite pleased, for a change. Perhaps I should provide him the human body he has begged for since father's demise."

I gnashed my teeth, cursing myself for not stabbing that goddamned excuse for a piece of humanity in the brain during our last raid on Shredder's lair.

"I'll ask again," she said. "Where is Leonardo?"

"I have no fucking clue," I grit between clenched teeth, glancing earnestly at the surrounding rooftops. A sudden burning shock and flare of pain jerked me back and I gasped. Donny yelped beside me, and just as soon as it hit us the paralyzing pain vanished and we dropped. The Foot holding us didn't seem to have as strong a grip, or the combined weights of my brother and I were too much for them, as we dropped unceremoniously into the asphalt. I bit my tongue on impact and hissed, spitting out a wad of blood and saliva. I could feel Donatello shaking beside me, and I knew I was probably shaking too.  
Karai sighed. "No matter, your brother will come for you eventually."

I failed to contain a bubble of hysterical laughter from deep in my throat, which quickly turned into a painful cough. Donny tensed against me. "Have you met Leo recently?" I wheezed. "He's not coming, lady. It's just me and my bros tonight for company."

Karai smiled and made another gesture. The ninja hauled Donatello and I back up and began half-dragging, half-carrying us across the rooftops. I let my eyes wander around the dark shadows, and tried to ignore the deep emptiness in my stomach when I found nothing. I grit my teeth, knowing I shouldn't be disappointed.

After a nauseating descent from the roofs, we were escorted into a large warehouse, dimly lit and covered in dust and trash. Over the stench of rot and must I could smell salt, and guessed we were somewhere near the bay.

"What do we do Raph?" Donny asked, voice low and cold with fear. I could feel him shivering against me, and his slight limping gait did not escape my notice. I could see Michelangelo stumbling alongside us, and could almost feel his pleading gaze. It seemed they, too, had lost hope in the darkness.  
I wracked my brains for some semblance of an idea, anything to get us out of here.

"Look Raphael." Leo's words echoed in my head and I shook it, gritting my teeth. I glanced around the warehouse, eyes quickly readjusting to the familiar darkness. The warehouse was not entirely empty; a number of crumbling wooden carts and rusting cargo trucks were lined haphazardly along the walls. One truck was equipped with a small crane, hook and chain dangling alluringly close to the small, tinted glass windows near the roof of the warehouse facing what I calculated was likely to be the bay. I squirmed against his restraints in growing anticipation, staring at Karai's gauntlet, swinging regularly with each step until she stopped in the center of the building and began gesturing and relaying orders.

"Donny, how strong does that gauntlet look?" I asked under my breath. Donatello glanced at me on confusion, before understanding dawned on his face. He peered over at Karai for a few moments before nodding to himself.

"If Karai's armor is anything like Shredder's, we can expect a flexible material of joint steel and aluminum, reinforced by a thin layer of bulletproof fiberglass. However a remote device like that can't be covered by a layer of such material thicker than five millimeters without losing much of its wave-signaling function, so the armor is likely to be significantly thinner and weaker at that point."

"Weak enough to be penetrated by a well-aimed shuriken, I hope," I muttered. Donatello nodded.

"In theory," he replied. "Considering stockman hasn't changed the composition of Karai's armor. Or the device's signal strength distance. Or -"

"I get it Donatello," I growled. "We'll just have to take our chances." I slowly began fingering the back of my belt, shifting so my hands and back were hidden by Donatello's bulk. Master splinter - and subsequently Leonardo - had, on numerous occasions, stressed the importance of having immediate weapons available no matter the situation. Thus, he had us sew small pockets in our belts which we filled with small throwing stars, throwing knives, smoke and flash bombs, and even lock-picking tools. I pulled out a shuriken and picked fruitlessly at the ropes, but as Karai had proclaimed, they appeared to be invulnerable to the blade. I chewed irritably at my cheek and tried maneuvering to free one arm. Donatello noticed my movement and tried to angle himself to give me more room to move. Karai's eyes suddenly darted to us and we stilled.

"Don't try anything foolish, she warned. Your transport will be here soon. If we cannot lure Leo from his shadows, we will simply need to lure his location from your minds. Stockman will enjoy having you over. He's been so very bitter about the consequences of his previous failures."

"It wasn't our fault he kept on getting picked apart," Mikey piped from our left. "Dude was just incompetent, and shredder was one tyrant of a boss, you know. Can't we just let bygones be bygones?" Karai's eyes flashed, and her hand fluttered over the trigger. I suddenly remembered something.

"He's right, you know." I quickly said before her finger could touch her gauntlet. "Shredder's been dead for a while now, toots. You gonna grow up or are you still a little daddy's girl to that psycho alien?"

Karai seethed and her finger flickered to the side. Donnie tensed and I squeezed what I could grapple of his wrist in apology before a seizing pain took us again. Fighting against the urge to scream as Donatello did, I concentrated instead on the momentary loosening of the chords to wrestle my arm out. No sooner had I succeeded then the pain halted to a dull, echoing throb and we tumbled to the floor, groaning. Mikey was snarling more profanities than I'd ever known him capable of, and Donny whimpered beside me. I grit my teeth and let the Foot tug us to our feet, angling my arm so they wouldn't see how loose it was.

"You will keep your mouth closed, turtle, if you wish for you and your brothers to remain standing during your wait."

I sneered. "Now," I whispered under my breath. Donatello tensed, and twisted to give me more room. In a single fluid motion I whipped my arm forward, letting the small steel throwing star fly across the room. Karai's eyes widened in realization and she raised her arm to deflect it, only it was exactly the arm I'd been aiming for. The remote sizzled, and the chords immediately went limp, slipping down our arms.

"Mikey!" I yelled, back-kicking a Foot soldier and darting away from the rest.

"Right behind you, bro," my youngest brother replied from close by. I leapt over a pile of rotting crates and zig-zagged my way to the crane, dodging flying shurikens and Foot ninja alike. I grabbed onto the chain and shimmied up as quick as I could, pausing on top of the crane head. Michelangelo was already climbing up after me, but Donny was being cornered in the opposite direction by several Foot, bo staff whirling desperately. I glanced around, looking for something, anything, but all I could see we're rotting wood and glass. I threw a few stars at the ninja, and Donatello set off a smoke bomb, seeking to dart past the enemy barrier, but the Foot quickly cut him off and I could see him tiring, staff simply jabbing forward and sideways in energy-efficient movements. Mickey glanced up at me from the top of the chain, looking to me for the guidance and reassurance I couldn't give. That hurt more than the residual soreness from the electrocutions.

Just as I prepared to jump off the crane in a last, admittedly suicidal attempt to save my brother, the dim lighting of the warehouse suddenly went out. My trained eyes took only a few seconds to adjust, and immediately locked on to a shrouded figure darting through the darkness. A number of grunts and cries rang out, mingling with Karai's near-hysterical orders. I didn't even realize my hands had been shaking until the sheer relief of seeing that figure darting up to meet us with Donatello in tow washed over me, despite the anger and frustration I knew I should feel.

"Took you long enough," I said hoarsely. Leo gave me a cold look in the dark.

"I shouldn't have had to come in the first place," he said. He scurried soundlessly down the crane neck before I could reply and leapt onto the window frame, pushing it out and beckoning the others through as he kept watch. I grit my teeth and followed Donatello, leaping through the window and tumbling into to bay. The icy water jerked the numb fatigue from my body and I quickly but quietly swam to the shore to join Mikey and Donny. My brothers pulled me out of the water and we huddled in the shadow of a dockhouse, waiting for Leo.

"You did good," Donny praised, "that was a good plan, Raph."

"Yeah dude," Mikey agreed, shivering slightly. I frowned, glancing away and trying to curb a rising frustration.

"It wasn't good enough. You got cornered, Donny. And we shouldn't have gotten captured anyway. I shouldn't have acted against Hun so fast."

"Are you kidding?" Mikey chortled. "You were beating beefy-brains's brains out! It wasn't your fault we got captured."

"Yes it was." We all turned to see Leo approach, water dripping off his smooth leathery skin in rivulets that shimmered hauntingly in the moonlight. "You should have waited. You should have looked. You would have seen."

Mikey and Donny tensed, glancing at me for my usual rebuke, but I stayed silent. I knew he was right. Leo's quick, self-satisfied smirk at my silence made my stomach roil, but I stayed quiet and followed him and the others as we began leaping across the rooftops of New York City.

No sooner had we ascended the east side roofs then dark shapes began to flank us. I cursed and heard Donny yell a warning. Leo immediately darted down and we hurried after, scrambling along windowsills and balconies and side-street stairwells through the allies in an attempt to lose our pursuers. However, we were soon ambushed down a dead end alley and forced to the rooftops before we could seek shelter underground.

"Where the shell did all these ninja come from?" Donny exclaimed, breathless and voice touched with worry. "The Shredder didn't have nearly this many Foot working under him."

"Looks like we've finally found out what Karai's been up to these last few years," I growled. Leo, bounding ahead of us, was silent, guiding us across the roofs. I began to grow nervous as I suddenly realized we were headed the opposite direction of the lair, and Leo seemed to have no intention of retreating into the sewers, even though most of the Foot had been left behind. I invested in a short burst of energy to catch up to him.

"Where are we going?" I hissed. "We need to get home and regroup. Donnie and Mikey are in no condition to fight these guys right now."

Leo fell down an ally and landed nearly silently on an emergency stairwell. I followed him, not quite as silently, and he finally turned toward me with dark eyes.

"Think, Raphael," he said for the second time that night. "Why do they keep finding us? We should have lost them a mile back."

I paused, and as Mikey and Donny slipped over the roof to join us, it dawned on me.

"One of us has a tracker."

"One of us has a what now?" Mikey asked, breathing hard and clutching his left arm, which was mottled with bruising. He flashed me a reassuring grin, but I only felt a frustrated desperation building up.

"We're being tracked," I growled again.

"At least one of you," Leo said. "We can't return to the lair until we find out where the tracker is."

Mikey began searching himself, craning his neck to glance down his shell. "I don't see anything, dude," he declared.

"It won't be somewhere obvious," Leo said, somewhat condescendingly. Suddenly, his head snapped down and he cursed. "Up," was his only command, and I could see shrouded figures swarming the street below.

We clambered up the escape onto the roof, and my stomach dropped. Hundreds of Foot were positioned on the rooftops around us. We clustered together, shell-to-shell, weapons poised. With a muffled warcry, a Foot soldier charged forward, quickly followed by the others. I kicked off one charging ninja and disarmed another with my sai. I barely managed to dodge a stab at my neck, ducking down and tripping a third Foot to his back. Seconds felt like minutes as my blows felt heavier, slower, weighed down by weakness and fatigue. I heard Donatello go down, and Mikey scramble to help him. I pushed two ninja off and bull-charged three more standing between me and my brothers. I managed to knock out the first two, but the third nicked my left tendon before I managed to land a kick. I snarled, fueled by pain and anger, and half-limped my way over my brothers. Donatello was crouched on one leg, jabbing at the swarm of black-clad Foot slowly crowding around them. Blood trickled from beneath his shell down his legs, suggesting a soft-bodied wound. Mikey's taunts had turned to wheezes, his nunchucks whirling, clanging against metal and crunching against bone. Leo was fighting close by, slicing through ninja and leaping over fallen bodies like some kind of reaper, but even he was starting to slow, the nicks and scratches building up. I managed to disarm another ninja and barely avoid being skewered when the crunch and rumble of concrete made me pause and glance up just long enough to see Hun's meaty fist fly into my plastron. I flew back hitting the concrete hard and gagged, lungs expelled of air and battling to inhale. When I finally gasped in a breath, Hun was already charging forward, leaving me barely enough time to roll away before he crashed down where I had just been laying.

"Stay still, you pathetic reptile," he snarled, charging me. I twisted over and hooked a leg around his, forcing him to trip forward. He fell with a grunt and I rolled to my feet, stumbling with dizziness. I heard Mikey cry out in warning, and suddenly felt something cold and sharp against my throat. The Foot stilled and formed a ring around us, swords drawn. Donny and Mikey were still back-to-back, Leo poised over a prone ninja with a bloodied sword.

"Best you drop your sword and come quietly now, Leonardo," Karai commanded, pressing the dagger my neck. Tough as our skin was, I didn't want to tempt the sharpness of the blade and immediately stilled, stifling my frustration and rage.

Leo turned towards Karai and I, assessing our position. I felt humiliated, somehow. Though his expression hadn't changed, I almost feared what he was thinking. Leo adjusted his grip on his katana. "What guarantee do I have that you won't kill him if I do so?"

"We both know I don't care about your brothers, Leo," Karai said. Her tone was sweet, and her use of my brother's nickname almost teasing, but her words dripped with enough venom to make me shudder.

"Yes," Leo nodded with a sigh, but I cod see the cruel coldness in his eyes, the furtive glances toward his surroundings, and I knew he wasn't going to surrender. "I have one request, however. May I ask my brother one question?" Karai stilled above me, and I could sense she was just as confused as I was.

"One question," she said cautiously. "Try anything funny and he bleeds."

Leo nodded and his gaze turned to me. "What did you do wrong tonight," he asked simply. I stared at him dumbly, until the words sunk in and fury took me.

"Are you kidding?" I snarled, neck grazing Karai's blade and making me wince. "Is now really the time for this?"

"Answer the question," Leo snapped.

I stifled and growl. "I shouldn't have attacked Hun," I said.

"No," Leo said. "What did you do wrong?"

I wanted to curse him, frustration and anger consuming me, when I realized what he was asking. Immediately my anger cooled and I said, grudgingly, "I didn't see."

For the first time in nearly five years, Leo smiled at me. A real smile, eyes crinkling slightly like they used to. Then he lowered his blade.

"Remove their trackers, let them go, and promise me you will leave the rest of my family alone, Karai, and you have my word that I will come with you without resistance."

My stomach dropped at the words, and I heard Donny suck in a breath in surprise.

"Leo, what are you doing?" I snarled.

Karai barked a victorious laugh. "I knew that uncaring attitude was just an act on your part, Leo. You always were a good actor. Seems even your brothers had thought you'd abandoned them back there."

"Do we have a deal?" Leo said.

"If they come after you, I can't guarantee anything."

"They won't come after me," he said, and gave me a sharp, meaningful look.

Karai was silent for a moment, before I felt one hand ease down the back of my shell, the metal of her gauntlet cold and biting and unwelcome on my skin, and I hissed. Seconds later she pulled away, a small tracker in her fingers and she dropped it and crushed it under her foot.

"Done," she said coldly.

"That's the only one?" Leo asked.

"It is, I swear it on my honor and the soul of my father."

"That's not much to swear by," I heard Mikey mutter. Karai's dagger twitched against my throat.  
Leo nodded, and dropped his blades. Immediately, a half dozen Foot tackled Leo to the ground and bound him tightly with Stockman's electric ropes. He put up no resistance, and terror mixed with confusion welled up within me.

"Leo? Leo!" I cursed and swore, tugging against the hold of the Foot as they began to drag my brother away. "You goddamn liar!" I screamed. "You liar! Why did you do it Leo! Why did you-!" I caught sight of Leo glancing back at me once more before something slammed into the back of my head and sent me tumbling into darkness, and it almost looked as if he were crying.

...


	3. Chapter 3

Part Three

...

The sky was lighter when I was shaken awake. My head throbbed painfully, and when I reached up the back of my head was crusted and sticky. Someone slapped my hand away from my wound, and a muffled voice became clearer.

"-ou okay? Can you understand me Raph?"

"Yeah, I hear you," I grunted, forcing myself upright despite the painful effort. My entire body protested, stiff and sore, and I weakly began massaging my legs and arms to ease the stiffness. Donny exhaled softly in relief, though his eyes still flit over my body for signs of more serious injury. I heard Mikey stumble to his feet and join us. They both looked awful, covered in dark purpling bruises and blood-scabbed wounds with ringed, tired eyes and drooping shoulders.

"The sun's rising," Donatello said. I glanced east, and indeed a sliver of orange had begun to rise above the skyline, shrouding a portion of the partially-clouded sky in pink. The sounds of early morning traffic buzzed from below. I turned back to my brothers, who looked at me uncertainly. I nodded and forced myself to my feet.

"Let's get back to the lair," I said. I wavered suddenly as a bout of dizziness overcame me, but Mikey and Donny both reached out to steady me. I quickly recovered, flashed them a weak smile of reassurance, and lead them off the rooftops and down the nearest manhole in an empty alleyway.

Somehow we all managed to reach the lair without collapsing. Despite our exhaustion and pains, Donny shuttled us into his lab and took to checking our injuries. I gestured toward Mikey and Donny wordlessly tended first to the youngest. He checked Mikey's arm, cleaning a deep wound, sewing it, and wrapping it in bandages soaked in iodide. Mikey braved through the treatment wordlessly despite Donny's limited use of local anesthetic, staring listlessly at the floor. After checking the rest of Mikey's vitals, Donny escorted him to his room, prescribing a full day's rest. Mikey first made to protest, but I gave him a firm look and promised we'd talk tomorrow and he nodded without another word. The ease with which he'd capitulated and his general quietness worried me, but upon his return, Donny reassured me that our younger brother was simply tired and overwhelmed by the emotional and physical challenges they'd faced recently.

"He should be back to normal by tomorrow," Donny assured, though his voice lacked conviction.

"I don't think it's gonna be that easy," I said. Donny looked at me sadly and began examining my injuries. He washed the scab on my head and rubbed away the blood on my neck, and cleaned and bandaged the remainder of my injuries. It was only when he sat himself down and began inspecting his own bruises that I realized, with a pang of regret, that Leo had never let himself be checked until Donny had tended to the others and himself first. Donny seemed to sense my discomfort and smiled softly.

"Don't go comparing yourself to him, Raph. Not all of Leo's decisions were good ones, selfless or otherwise."

I shook my head and grabbed the iodide and gauze pads from Donny's hands and began tending to the scrapes on his shoulders and head he hadn't reached.

"All the decisions he made were for us," I said, voice hoarder than I'd intended.

"I know that."

I paused, gauze hovering over a nasty spear gouge in Donny's right arm.

"You do?"

Donny sighed. "It's fairly typical of Leo to push himself to extremes when he thinks it's necessary. The burden of leadership became even heavier with Splinter's death, and he probably felt the need to distance himself to fill Splinter's shoes. What I don't understand is why he couldn't just talk to us about it. We would have understood."

I shook my head. "No we wouldn't. It's typical Leo - he doesn't want to show his fears and weaknesses. Typical fearless." I forced a chuckle. "And now he's gotten himself into this stupid mess..."

There was a short pause, and Donny glanced up. "What are we going to do, Raph?"

I rubbed my head and sighed. "I... I don't know yet. Let's talk about this tomorrow. We can't do anything in our conditions right now." Donny almost smiled.

"Sounds like Leo's been rubbing off on you. You're much more cautious now." I shrugged and Donny clapped me once, gently, on the shoulder. "Get some rest," he said, before retreating to his bed at the back of the lab.

I eased off the bed, stifling a groan as my muscles protested sorely, and forced myself, one step at a time, out of the lab, closing the door softly behind me. My feet lead me across the lair, but I found myself, instead of in my room, in front of Leo's. The white paper doors he'd built himself were closed shut, and always seemed taller, more imposing, than the rest of the doors in the lair. I exhaled and slid open a door. The room was dim, lit only by excess light from the living room. Everything was as orderly as the last time I'd been here, and for a brief moment I could even see Leo kneeling on the mat, looking up at me expectantly. I knelt by the altar and lit a candle with a match. The flame flickered gently and stilled, illuminating the room. I knelt and gazed at splinter's altar, wondering if having it there had calmed Leo, or simply strengthened his resolve, a constant reminder of the idiot burden he'd placed on himself. I remembered the conversation we'd had before the stakeout, and his constant instruction and questioning.

"Was this your plan all along," I muttered. "Groom me as leader?" But that meant Leo must have known he'd be captured, or killed, eventually. I shook my head. What nonsense. Leo wasn't suicidal - he trained more than any of us. Those restless nights in the Dojo... Sometimes I wondered if he'd limited my outings because he was jealous of the freedom. It wasn't like I was holding him back from going off on his own, but it's probably a leader thing. He'd begun limiting my outings recently though, I realized.

"Stupid, stupid," I growled, gripping my knees. "What the shell am I supposed to do, Leo."

…

The following day, I crawled out of my hammock sore and stiff and with much reluctance. Numerous dark bruises had appeared on my skin along my ribs and arms. I stumbled out of my room, surprised to smell grilled bacon and hot coffee wafting from the kitchen. I moved toward the kitchen, and paused as I found Mikey stirring apathetically at a pan-full of bacon. When he noticed me, his head snapped up and he gifted me with a wide, if noticeably forced, smile. His right eye was swollen and black, and he looked exhausted.

"You're up early. Did you sleep?" I asked.

"Yeah, dude, 'course I did," Mikey said lightly, turning back to stirring his meat with more enthusiasm. "Just got up half an hour ago. I was gonna watch TV but I figured you and Donnie would want to sleep in.

I regarded him suspiciously, then shrugged. "You make eggs yet?"

"Nope," he pointed to the fridge. "Bottom shelf."

I grabbed the two-dozen carton of eggs and pulled out six, setting them on the kitchen table. Mikey dumped the readied bacon in a covered bowl lined in paper towels while I poured myself a cup of coffee. I watched my brother silently as he began frying the eggs, and soon, the smell coaxed Donnie out of his lab. He wandered over, as battered as I looked, and I handed him a fresh mug of coffee. He gave me a grateful look and settled at the kitchen table.

Breakfast was a quiet affair. We gobbled down our bacon, bread, and eggs with loud enthusiasm, but said little edgewise. When we finished, there was a short silence promptly broken, to my surprise, by Mikey.

"So what are we going to do?"

We all turned to him, and he sipped at his glass of milk, expression serious.

"Leo wouldn't want us coming after him," Donny sighed. "It would defeat the entire reason he gave himself up."

"You don't seriously mean that," Mikey looked shocked.

Donny shrugged and looked up at me.

I shook my head. "I..."

"I still don't get it," Mikey said, staring at his empty plate. "What was all of that about? Last night... That was the old Leo, wasn't it? What changed?"

He looked confused, and hopeful, and sad. I fisted the tablecloth.

"Nothing changed. Leo was always Leo. Always the leader, 'Splinter Jr', and when Splinter died, he probably tried to fill those shoes - he wanted to be leader, and sensei. But he couldn't do that as our brother. So he changed. I don't know why he did the things he did. But ever since we killed Shredder, he began quizzing me, grooming me for leader. He knows I'm a shit leader," I chuckled hoarsely, "but he kept trying to dig his stupid sensible leader bullshit into my brain."

"Language, Raph," Donny muttered. I ignored him.

"He must have known, is what I figure. Must have known that killing shredder would drive Karai mad with a lust for vengeance, must have known he'd have to turn himself in before she killed us all. So he decided to make me leader so we could keep going without him. Stupid, stupid..."

I didn't realize I'd started crying until Donny placed a hand on my knee. I rubbed my eyes and glanced away angrily.

Mikey looked sorrowful, and Donny regretful.

"So what do we do?" Donny whispered. "You are the leader now..."

I snorted and slammed my fist on the table, startling them both. "Well Leo forgot two important things - one, I'm still a shit leader, and two, I never follow his orders. We go in and get him, and finish Karai for good."

Mikey chuckled and Donny gave me a relieved smile.

"It's going to take us a few days to recover before we can go running around in Karai's lair," Donny said, "and we need to do recon and surveillance before we try anything. And we're gonna need backup."

I nodded. "You know who to call."

...

The Ghostbusters theme blast through the radio as we roared down the late-night NYC streets in the Shell-raiser. Casey lip-synched along, tapping the steering wheel as I double checked our GPS.

"You're sure this is where Karai is based?" Donny asked for the third time.

"Yeah, Don, we're sure," Casey groaned. "April and I spent the last three nights stalking every damn ninja on the streets. We ain't nocturnal you know."

"Every ninja we tracked came back through this location," April confirmed, tapping the red dot on the screen. "We even tagged one of them, and he came straight here. Hasn't left since."

"Okay, okay," I placated. "But a waste-water treatment plant?"

"Maybe they figured we wouldn't come after them if it smelled bad enough," Mikey snickered.

"It's also right next to the dam," Donny mentioned, glancing at a map of the city.

"What would Karai want with a dam?" I asked, frowning.

"Energy," Donny replied, as if it was obvious. "A whole lot of energy."

"What for?" April inquired.

Donny shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine, on that end."

"Whatever it is, can't be good," Casey grimaced with a shudder.

"Guess we'll find out when we get in there," I said, glancing out the window. The looming skyscrapers began to fade into suburban apartments and houses and finally into a bare resemblance of countryside, spotted trees amidst a landscape of grassland for cattle and agriculture.

By the time Casey parked the vehicle some twenty meters from the treatment plant, the sky had turned black, a bright half-moon hidden behind wispy clouds. Donny insisted we go over the plan again, and despite my anxiousness to begin, I grudgingly agreed.

"We have to begin with recon. We can't barge in there when Leo is being held hostage and Karai apparently has access to a ton of power for some unknown project. We need to find out what she's doing and where she's keeping Leo before we can do anything." I nodded, and when Donny looked up at me, I took over. "From Donnie's turtlecam, we've been able to form a layout of Karai's hideout."

"It's a three dimensional sonar image," Donatello added excitedly, "like radar but with a geospatial scanner that tracks the routes used and sends regular extrapolations of the surrounding -"

"We get it, Donny," Mikey drawled, flashing his brother a teasing grin to soften the interruption. Donny quieted and I cleared my throat before continuing.

"It looks like the building is divided into five levels, and only the first one is aboveground." Donny pulled out his laptop and drew up a three-dimensional image of the treatment plant, each level divided into different colors. "Considering security is highest at level 4 and 5, we can bet Leo is locked up somewhere there."

"How are we getting in?" I asked.

"Oh, I know!" Mikey volunteered. "There are two air vents on the first floor supplying air to the whole building. Donny'll shut off infrared and video-monitor security in the vents and we'll sneak in to the fourth floor, free Leo, and go home!"

I grinned, typical Mikey the optimist, simplifying everything. "That's about it," I agreed. We tied up the particulars of the plan, making sure April and Casey were able to keep in constant communication with us through the turtle-coms, and geared up to head out. We packed climbing gear, explosives, small throwing weapons, smoke bombs, and other equipment on our persons, and I slung Leo's swords across my shell.

Casey parked the Shell-raiser a few blocks from the plant's parking garage, and we sprang out. The air was warm and still, a moonless night providing perfect cover for our nocturnal stealth mission. The outside of the plant was guarded only by a few Foot in security guard uniforms, easy to get around, but we knew the inside of the plant was going to be very different. We quickly ambled up the roof, and Donny made quick and easy work of the ventilation's security system.

"We're in, April," he reported through his com.

"Good work Donny," April replied. "You've got fifty-three minutes and fifty-eight seconds before someone notices the system has been tampered with. There's an automatic security check every hour."

"Then we get in, find Leo, and get out within the hour," I said. The others nodded grimly and Mikey quietly dislodged the ventilation grate. April wished us luck. We glanced in, saw no steel barbs or booby traps blocking our way, and scurried in on our hands and knees one by one.

I was in the lead, Donny behind me whispering instructions on where to turn as he read directions from the map downloaded onto his Shell-cell. Mikey trailed behind, stopping occasionally when we heard voices from open grates along our path. Twice we dropped as quietly as possible down a vertical shaft to the next floor, wincing as our knees did little to absorb the shock of our landing on the frail aluminum. Finally, we hit a dead end and Donny gestured to a grate on the left.

"The ventilation system for the fourth and fifth levels has a separate security system, and is inaccessible from this branch. We'll have to get out in the stairway and go by foot from here."

I nodded and pushed the grate. It came off with a pop, and I glanced up and down the stairwell before dropping down. It was cool and quiet, the stairs a smooth lacquered cement. Mikey and Donny dropped in beside me, and we silently padded down the stairwell until we hit a yellow door with the number 4 painted large and white. The door was locked with a numbered security pad. Donny shuffled in front of us and pulled a micro-USB wire from his Shell-cell, plugging it in to the base of the pad. After a few seconds of typing, he hacked into the system and the door clicked open.

"Smooth Donatello," Mikey grinned and gave Donny a thumbs up. I opened the door just a crack and made to look in but was suddenly held back by a hand. I glanced over my shoulder and saw Mikey looking at me with a sick, stricken expression. Worried, I paused and turned around.

"What's up Mikey?"

"I know I shouldn't… I shouldn't say this but… but Raph. What if he's… what if we're too late?"

I couldn't reply immediately. The thought had occurred to me, not only once, that Leo may already be dead. But for Mikey, ever-optimistic Mikey, to express his doubts, profoundly shocked and surprised me. Donny looked stunned as well, but glanced at me with and expression that told me he'd been thinking the same thing. I tried to smooth the surprise from my face and smile reassuringly.

"Karai wouldn't just kill Leo after going through all that trouble to get him. And besides, we're also here to find out what Karai's been up to, so we continue with the plan, alright? Nothing's changed." My justification was likely, but not foolproof. I had no idea whether Karai really had plans for Leo, or if she had rid herself of the turtle who had mercilessly killed her father as soon as she had him to herself. I disguised a shudder, empowered by the newly restored faith in my brother's faces, and pushed the door open.

It was quiet, too quiet, and bare. Not a single Foot patrolled this floor. In fact, there didn't seem to be anything apart from a few empty office spaces, and unlocked doors that lead to more empty rooms or closets. Profoundly disappointed, we continued cautiously until we reached the opposite stairwell and descended to the fifth floor. Donny updated April on our progress as we arrived at the next floor. This door had a similar security system, though the door was red rather than yellow, and painted with a large white five. Donny hacked us through quickly and efficiently, and I pushed open the door.

The fifth floor was immediately different. The door lead to more stairs, which spiraled downwards. A humid draft passed through the stairwell every few seconds, as though something were breathing. I stilled and raised a fist as the stairs abruptly came to an end. Mikey and Donny stopped and flattened themselves against the wall, looking at me curiously. It took a moment before I could react.

The stairway opened into an enormous landing which stretched across the entire floor to our right, and supported a huge clutter of machinery and people, a mix largely of Foot in patrol gear and men in white coats. To the left, the landing was split by a railing and cut off abruptly into a gaping void filled by a huge, techno-organic mass that twisted and knotted itself upwards like some kind of diseased tree. A large bulb in the center glowed and pulsed, and the knotted mass seemed to swell and sigh, slowly, in regular intervals. The "exhale" brought on a moist, foul-smelling gust that smelled sharply of sulfur.

"Urgh, now I know why they chose to base under the poop plant!" Mikey muttered, gagging.

"What the shell is that thing?" I muttered. Donny peered around me in astonishment, raising his Shell-cell for an analysis.

"I'm not sure," he admitted, "but the thermograph is reading some serious heat signatures on that thing, so it's clearly alive, and the chemical analysis from my infrared gas analyzer is detecting high levels of sulfur and nitrogen."

"I have no idea what that's supposed to tell us," Mikey groused, and I couldn't help but agree. I turned my attention to the people rustling about the far right of the room, and focused all my attention on recon. I saw Hun leaning against the far wall, looking sullen as usual, but his quick and common glances at the organic mass clearly showed he was uncomfortable. I saw a large, upraised, and circular -, like a helicopter landing pad, in the center of the room, around which the scientists and Foot soldiers shuffled cautiously. Occasionally, it glowed a vibrant blue, only to shudder and fade after a few minutes. Not far from this pad, I saw Karai speaking and gesturing angrily at a few Foot by what looked like a complex control panel. I saw a large metal cage, inside of which was chained a huge mutant alligator who strained against the restraints and roared at intervals, only to jerk back and quiet in response to sudden electric shocks. I saw a cylindrical tank with thick metal bars, and inside it, slumped as though unconscious, I saw Leonardo.

"Shit," I swore violently, filled with a sudden rage. Donnie and Mikey quickly zeroed in on what I had seen, and made small noises of distress. Leo was completely surrounded, in the midst of this unknown chaos, with so many unknown variables. We still had no idea what Karai was up to, what that giant mass was, what state Leo was in, and how we were going to get him out without setting the entire Foot army on our shells. I crouched in place, narrowing my eyes and assessing the area as well as possible. I knew very well I couldn't afford to charge in there, sais blazing, and attempt to free Leo without severely endangering my brothers and the very mission.

"Oh shell," I muttered under my breath. "This leader gig is just not my thing, Leo."

Suddenly, I spotted Karai storming over to face the organic mass, standing against the railing in a bold and accusing posture. The bustling and muttered around the machinery stilled and quieted, respectively.

"Your teleportation pad is not working, Krang," Karai said, voice carrying through the large room. The mass wheezed and sighed, and suddenly spoke.

"It is not my _fault_ your pitiful human machinery is unable to grasp the technological complexities of inter-dimensional travel, Karai." The voice, high-pitched and grating, boomed and echoed through the room like an ethereal presence. "If your father had not been such a _buffoon_ and killed Honeycutt before the portal's completion, I would not be _stuck_ here in dimensional _limbo_!" Each word this Krang emphasized came out so sharply it caused me to flinch. Karai, however, remained resolute by the railing, face pinching in anger at the unknown being's critical words.

"If not for my _father_ , you would still be a prisoner to the Ultrom in Dimension X, rotting away in some ill begotten cell. Choose your words wisely, Krang."

The mass seemed to pulsate more violently, before calming. An unnerving cackle echoed through the room. "Just get me out of here, Karai, and I promise you all the mutagen you need for your little mutant army. Your foolish attempts at extracting the chemical formula of my mutagen from that amphibious mutant of yours are pointless. You _need_ me, Karai."

Karai ground her teeth but turned around and stalked back to the control panel for what I now assumed was the inter-dimensional portal and began harassing more scientists. Among them, I finally saw Dr. Baxter Stockman – now little more than a brain and eyeball floating in a tank of clear bubbling liquid – hissing at Karai through the speakers of his machine.

"Mutagen?" Mikey whispered excitedly. "Mutant _army_?"

"I guess we know what Karai's been up to this whole time," Donatello said sullenly. "And why she's kept Leo alive all this time."

"It doesn't matter," I said firmly, and they immediately looked at me. "The plan hasn't changed. We get Leo out, and destroy the portal and that… thing. No Krang, no mutant army."

Mikey grinned and cracked his knuckles. "Simple, easy, typical Raph."

"Not so easy, by my accounts," Donny said nervously, pulling down his goggles. "I'd estimate at least a hundred Foot soldiers in the room, not including the scientists. That cage Leo is in looks like reinforced steel alloy, and requires a special code to open. I'll need at least two minutes undisturbed to get him out. And we still have no idea what that Krang thing is or what it's capable of."

"You -s be c-ful," April warned us, her voice breaking up in sharp static.

"Woah, looks like the - waves from that portal are breaking up our signal," Donny said. "April? April can you hear me?" April's voice sounded far away and heavily muffled by the droning of static. Donny sighed and clicked off the com. "Looks like we're on our own from here out."

"We need to cause a distraction," I began. "And hopefully destroy that Krang while we're at it."

"On it!" Mikey volunteered, whipping out his nunchucks. I raised a hand to slow him down.

"As soon as we hit the deck, Karai is going to know what we're up to. She'll immediately send most of the Foot to guard Leo. We need make sure the Foot's attention is divided. The portal looks important, so we need to destroy the control panel and pad. Mikey, I'll entrust you with this. Be as destructive as possible, but avoid engaging the Foot directly. While you're at it, plant as many explosives as possible around the room."

"Destructive is my middle name," Mikey declared, puffing his chest. Donny and I handed all our explosives to Mikey in a small knapsack he slung over his shell.

"I'll stick to Donatello and keep the Foot off his back while he frees Leo," I continued. "As soon as we have Leo out, I'll whistle twice, and Mikey that's your cue to meet us at the stairwell and set off the explosives. This won't be a stealth mission anymore, so we don't need to use the vents on our way out."

We glanced at each other. My brother's faces were grim but determined, and I was suddenly so very proud of them. I tried for a reassuring smile and placed a hand on Mikey's shoulder.

"Give 'em hell."

Mikey grinned and pulled out three of his throwing stars. He aimed and fired them off in quick succession, each hitting and shattering the bright LEDs on the ceiling. The room immediately plunged into darkness, until a backup generator turned the machinery back on. Still, the only light came from the glow of the machines and bubbling tanks, the Krang mass which glowed and glittered an eery orange, and the portal's occasional blue sheen. Mikey was no longer beside us, but had disappeared into the darkness. Shouts and cries of surprise burst through the room, and Karai's enraged orders boomed through the room.

Donny and I sprang into action at once. Eyes well-adjusted to the sudden dark, we stealthily darted towards Leo's enclosure, slipping past confused Foot and panicking scientists. As expected, a number of Foot had gathered around the tank, weapons drawn. Donny and I made quick and quiet work of the majority, two of them managing to escape for reinforcements. Donny alighted by the control pad of the tank, and immediately plugged in his Shell-cell. I stayed close, keeping my attention on the approaching Foot. Two lunged at me, swords slashing. I disarmed the first and knocked out the first with a well-placed kick to the head. The soldier dropped to the floor, unconscious, and I sparred briefly with his companion before cutting a tendon and forcing the second Foot to limp away. I heard an explosion nearby, and saw that Mikey had begun - the machinery. Karai's enraged cry rang out. I saw five Foot approach from the left and threw a flash bomb, covering my eyes. Numerous cries ran out at the pop of the bomb, and they were easy to knock out, blinded and screaming in place.

"Turtle!" I started and glanced around at the raspy call. My eyes fell on the mutant alligator slung in the cage beside Leo's. In the dim light, I could see numerous dark bruises blotting his body, and his ribs pushed against leathery flesh. Despite this clear negligence, it was still a terrifying creature.

"Turtle," he repeated hoarsely, sharp jagged teeth flashing when he opened his impressive jaw. "Release me. I can help you."

I narrowed my eyes suspiciously. "How can I trust you?" I asked. I could hear more Foot gathering and preparing to attack – at least a dozen this time – trying to surround us.

The giant reptile rumbled. "I have no love for the Foot clan," he snarled. "They have kept me prisoner for nearly two years, experimenting on me, torturing me. Release me, and I will make quick work of these foul creatures!"

I nodded. "What is your name?"

"You can call me Leatherhead," the mutant replied.

"I'm in!" I glanced back at Donny, and the tank whirred and clicked, the bars lifting open with a hiss.

"Donny," I said. "Can you get him out of there?" Donatello glanced at the alligator's cage and gave me a thumbs up.

"Simple locking mechanism. Way easier than Leo's. I'll be done in a jiffy." He darted to Leatherhead's cage and began picking at the door. I sprang up onto the Tank and, after a quick look around to make sure the Foot were still distracted by Mikey's noisy exclamations, glanced down at Leo.

He looked a mess. Clearly dehydrated, his skin was a tad too pale and littered with purple bruises, and his right arm was bent at an unnatural angle. His wrists and ankles were raw and red likely from restraints. He wheezed with every breath. The sight alone was enough to make me shudder with worry and rage.

"Leo, Leo wake up," I urged, shaking him gently. "We've gotta go."

Leo made a small noise and his eyes fluttered open. He blinked, staring up at me but not seeing, until finally his eyes focused and alarm flooded his features.

"R…aph," he whispered hoarsely. His use of my usual nickname made my chest tighten. "What… you doing here?"

"We're here to get you out, stupid," I reamed. He looked confused.

"I told you… not to –"

"Hell if I've ever listened to you, Leo," I groused, voice choking. "Come on, we need to leave."

I suddenly heard a terrible roar and crash of iron, and looked up to see Leatherhead spring from his enclosure and barrel into a half-dozen Foot soldiers, sending them flying or tearing into their flesh. Jarring cries of terror and pain rang out, and many of the Foot suddenly set most of their attention to putting the mutant down.

I removed Leo's weapons from my back and buckled them around his plastron and shell. He touched the leather absentmindedly. I slung Leo's good arm over my shoulder and lifted him up. "Can you walk?" In response, he planted his feet firmly on the ground and limped along as I supported him out of the tank. Donny defended us from encroaching Foot as we shuffled towards the stairs. Suddenly, something huge rammed into him, and he went flying right.

"Donny!" I saw my brother roll to his feet, having managed to block the blow fairly well, and face the indomitable Hun.

"I should have known you would show up here. You never did listen to your brother."

I grit my teeth and widened my stance, pulling out a sai with my free hand. "Karai."

Shredder's protégé faced us, double katanas drawn, and sneered at me. "I suppose there is no need to spare either of you, any more. It seems your use has worn out."

She lunged straight for me, and I was forced to shove Leo unceremoniously aside and parry her blows. She remained steadily on the offensive, slashing and hacking, spinning to land kicks and underhanded jabs with her swords. I was forced to shuffle back, blocking and parrying, managing to deflect most but not all of the blows. She had gotten very skillful, over the years, and Leo was usually the one who went toe-to-toe with her.

" _Karai_ ," the Krang's nasally voice suddenly rang through the room. "What is this sudden chaos?"

"Blasted impatient alien," Karai snarled. "He'll serve his purpose soon."

I noticed a sudden crackle of blue, and ducked as a sizeable explosion shook the room. Plaster crumbled from the walls and the rails to our right groaned and distorted as the landing cracked. The Krang roared in anger. Karai stumbled from the shock and whipped her head around, face distorting with horror and rage as her eyes landed on the wholly demolished inter-dimensional pad.

"No!" she shrieked, and turned to face me, eyes blazing. "You filthy meddling reptiles! I will end you now once and for all!" She lunged, the force of her anger pinning me back into the defensive. I leapt over her and caught her in the back with a roundhouse. She stumbled, but quickly recovered and slashed at me with a katana. The tip sliced through my thigh, sending a sharp jab of pain down my leg, but I ignored it and favored my other leg instead. She slashed down, and I blocked her blow, twisting my sai and flinging the weapon out of her hands. Nearly immediately, Kara retaliated with the other, slicing my forearm and forcing me to release my sai with a cry. I stumbled back, raising my last sai. Hot blood trickled down my other arm, dripping onto the concrete. Karai stood triumphant, her back to the railing. Behind her, I could see the glowing outline of the Krang mass, pulsing and wheezing irregularly and furiously. I lunged forward with a cry, attempting to unbalance her over the edge, but she parried my weak blow and kicked me in the center of the plastron. I crashed into the ground with a yelp, and rolled myself back on my hands and knees, trembling.

I heard Donny yell my name, followed by a crash as Hun slammed into him. I knew Mikey was probably surrounded by Foot, and Leatherhead's warcries were becoming weaker.

"It's over, Raphael," Karai snarled. "You never amounted to anything without Leo. None of you did. And now look at you, scattered and defeated trying to rescue him, after everything he did to push you away. Ridicu-" Karai was suddenly jerked off her feet as Mikey flew in and landed a kick to her temple. She rolled and crashed into the railing with a grunt. Mikey landed beside me, looking tired and breathing heavily but otherwise unharmed.

"Don't you bad guys ever learn to stop monologing?" Mikey said. "You'd be a lot more effective."

Karai growled and spat up blood, pushing herself off her feet. Before she could fully stand, however, Donny swept past her, jabbing his bo-staff into her stomach and hitting the katana out of her hand so that it sailed over the railing and into the abyss. Donny hopped to my left, so that we nearly encircled her.

"It's over, Karai," I said, raising my sai and stepping forward. Karai's shocked expression quickly smoothed into a sinister grin and she laughed harshly.

"Are you going to kill me, Raph?" she exclaimed. I hesitated, and she saw it, eyes leaping. "You know it's the only way to stop me. I won't quit, not until every one of your damned mutant brothers are dead, and my army rules over this maudlin city!"

I gripped my sai tightly in my hand. She was right. I knew Karai would never stop. Killing her was the only option, even if it meant breaking our long-standing code of non-lethal combat, the one rule Splinter had raised above all. But if it meant my brother's lives, I couldn't afford not to. Leo had known it. I knew it. Donny and Mikey looked at me uncertainly, but I knew it was a burden only I could shoulder; the burden of a life. It scared me, terrified me, but I couldn't let my brothers – my smart, silly brothers – sink under that load. I stepped forward, and Karai scrambled to her feet, hand darting into a pocket of her trousers and coming up with a pressure-triggered explosive.

"If you're so determined to kill me, Raph, then I'm taking you all down with me," Karai snarled. I stepped back, cursing. She'd gone completely mad. "Good bye, turt-"

Karai stilled, suddenly, entire body rigid and tense. She dropped the explosive, untriggered, and scrabbled at her throat, gurgling, black blood flowing from her lips and staining her tunic. Leo stood shakily behind her, his katana driven through her throat and protruding from the side of her neck. He wrenched it out with his good hand, and pushed her over the railing. She fell, and we did not hear her land.

Leo collapsed against the railing almost as soon as she'd gone over. Recovering from the sudden shock, I raced over the supported him upright.

"Leo, are you alright?"

He turned to me, blue eyes hollow. "I couldn't..." he tried, and coughed. "I couldn't… let you do it." His eyes glistened and I grit my teeth and looked away.

"I'm not weak, Leo. I can handle it," I reamed. He shook his head weakly.

"It's not… being strong. It's…"

"I know," I ground out, sharply. Then, more softly, "I _know_. I just… wanted to help you carry it."

Leo looked at me, quiet, and then down at the ground. Donny sat beside Leo and checked his wounds briefly before slinging Leo's good arm over his shoulder. Another explosion rocked the room, and the ground crackled.

"We need to get out of here, guys!" Mikey urged. "Those explosives are set to blow any minute now!"

"Alright," I said.

"You disgusting little mutants!" I started and whipped around toward the Krang. Finally faced with the pulsing clearish bulb at the center of the mass, I saw within it the creature that was so enraged with us, the Krang. It was surprisingly unthreatening, a small, pink, jellyfish-like alien creature, almost all face, with pinpoint eyes and sharp teeth. Its tentacles roiled furiously as it floated within a viscous, bubbling liquid. "I _will_ get out," it snarled, "and when I do you will feel the full wrath of Krang!"

I narrowed my eyes and picked up Karai's explosive. I set it to detonate within a few seconds, punched the trigger, and dropped it over the railing.

"We'll be ready," I yelled back at it, and ran to catch up with my brothers. The last of the humans were scrambling up the stairwell to escape the fires and exploding machinery. Donny whistled, and Leatherhead came charging through, covered in scrapes and bruises but still able-bodied. He threw a last Foot off of him and followed us up the stairwell.

"Give him to me," he offered as Donny struggled with Leo's nearly non-responsive corpse. Donny looked at me, and at a short nod, relinquished Leo to the alligator. Leatherhead slung Leo over his shoulder, surprisingly gently, and bounded up the stairs four at a time.

A deafening explosion and burst of heat followed us up to the second floor. The ground beneath us shifted and cracked, and crumbled down into the abyss. We could feel the heat of the flames from below, and the smoke choked us. We made it to the first floor, gasping, and followed Leatherhead as he charged through a locked doorway, metal door flying off its hinges. We burst into the cool night, breathing deeply, and kept running until we reached the edge of the road. The sky had begun to lighten, the stars disappearing from the sky. We stumbled and collapsed on the cool asphalt as a huge explosion wreathed the building in flames and shook the ground.

"That was close!" Mikey exclaimed breathlessly.

"A little too close," Donny agreed, rubbing his neck.

Leatherhead pushed himself to his feet and gently deposited Leo to the ground. My eldest brother groaned and pushed himself upright, staring listlessly at the burning plant. "Thank you for your help, my friends," Leatherhead rumbled. "This favor will not be forgotten."

"No problem, my man!" Mikey grinned. The alligator almost seemed to smile, then turned and lumbered off into the dark. We remained sitting on the pavement, recovering our breath and watching Karai's last stronghold burn.

"You think that Krang thing survived?" Mikey asked absentmindedly after a while.

"I don't know," I muttered. "But if he did, we'll stop him, like we always do."

We watched the burning plant throw shadows into the sky, rippling flames distorting black smoke into fearsome shapes. The sun was rising, though, just beginning to peer over the horizon and spill its orange glow over the city skyline. Soon, the fire would dull, the dark shapes in the smoke would fade to white and carry away in the wind. Leonardo watched the plant crumble and crash, consumed by fire. Tears fell down his face, perhaps from the sharp, choking smoke, and evaporated nearly as quickly.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, voice cracked and broken. I looked at his twisted arm and purpling body, the leanness under his plastron that spoke of months of malnutrition and sleeplessness, and I saw. I didn't know if I could forgive him just yet, but I knew, eventually, things would get better. I gently wrapped his stable arm over my shoulders and lifted him up.

"Let's go home," Donatello said. Leo smiled, eyes closing, as I carried him to the Shell-raiser.

…

The End

…

 **.:Author's Note:.** Sorry if that was an exhausting read. The angst is strong with this one. I also apologize for always pinning Karai as the villain. I always figured she'd make a good, calculating antagonist for the turtles after Shredder. Thanks for reading, and be sure to drop a review!


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